The Nintendo Switch 2 took some time getting here, but I’m now one of millions of gamers settling into the new console, having jettisoned my Switch OLED on eBay already. That touches on an important topic, though – buying a new console isn’t cheap, and when you have to pick up new games as well, it all adds up.
If you’re a new Switch 2 owner, or you’re hoping to get one soon, but you’re baulking a little at the price of adding Mario Kart World, Nintendo’s big launch game, to your basket, then I have a lovely little alternative for you. There’s another, far less well-known racing game that launched with the Switch 2, and I think it’s well worth checking out.
Fast Fusion is a sequel to Fast RMX, which has been out on the first Switch for years. It’s a racer straight from the school of F-Zero or Wipeout, featuring futuristic sci-fi racing ships jetting around circuits at crazy speeds, and I’ve been having a great time on it for the past week.
It’s way simpler than Mario Kart World to get started with, ironically – you just boot it up and jump into one of its cups, each of which features three tracks. Winning gets you cash that you can use to unlock new cups or ships, and you can also fuse those ships to make crossover versions if you want to experiment.
The real star here, though, is the visual presentation. Fast Fusion feels like quite a big leap over anything I played on the original Switch, with way more detail and effects going on at all times, mostly at very high speeds. Its tracks are gorgeous, and it gives you a terrific sense of that speed once you really start to learn how to chain boosts and jumps together around their bends.
The crucial reason why it might make more sense for some people than Mario Kart World, though, is its price. Fast Fusion comes in at just £13.49 in the UK and $14.99 in the US, which is drastically less than the surprisingly and disappointingly expensive £66.99 or $79.99 that you need to fork out for a digital copy of Mario Kart World.
If you need to save up for Nintendo’s admittedly terrific kart racer, Fast Fusion could be a perfect stop-gap to ensure that you still get to flex the Switch 2’s muscles while racing. Grab it to expand your launch game lineup nicely.
